British leader compares ISIS battle to Cold War

SOUSSE, TUNISIA - JUNE 29: Armed guards patrol Marhaba beach during a visit by British Home Secretary Theresa May at the scene where 38 people were killed on Marhaba beach last Friday, on June 29, Sousse, Tunisia. British Prime Minister David Cameron has said it has emerged that the British death toll in the Tunisian attack will rise above 30. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Photo: Jeff J Mitchell, Staff / Getty Images

LONDON — Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday called the fight against the Islamic State “the struggle of our generation” as Britain grappled with the aftermath of a beach massacre in Tunisia, the worst terrorist attack on British citizens since the London bombings July 7, 2005.

Britain is in a state of mourning after a gunman Friday sprayed bullets at European tourists lounging on a white beach in Sousse, killing 39. Eighteen of the victims have been confirmed as British, but officials say that number is expected to rise to around 30 as more bodies are identified.

The Islamic State has urged its supporters to attack the West during the holy month of Ramadan. There also were terror assaults Friday in France and Kuwait.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s “Today” program, Cameron said the radical Islamist group posed an “existential threat” to the British way of life and compared the fight against it to the Cold War. “It’s a battle of our values and our narrative against their values and their narrative,” he said. “We have to get that right as well as the military end.”

The rampage was the worst terrorist attack in recent memory in Tunisia, a country that was widely hailed as a success story of the Arab Spring but that has suffered a number of deadly attacks by Islamist extremists.

On Monday, Tunisian officials announced that they had arrested several people accused of helping the lone gunman, who was identified as 23-year-old student Seifeddine Rezgui.

Pictures and videos have surfaced on social media showing scenes of chaos as the black-clad gunman opened fire on his victims. He was later shot dead by police.

Britain’s Scotland Yard has launched an investigation of the attack with more than 600 officers, one of the largest such operations since the London transit bombings.

In Parliament, Cameron announced a national minute of silence to be held Friday at noon to remember those killed.